Monday

First thing when I get in in the morning, is to check the display screen in the cafe area is working – not a hard task as it is on the way to my office. If it isn’t I have to reboot the machine, but today it was on. Once I was all logged in, I checked my emails, then checked the new Library Facebook page for the number of followers, and any responses, and then checked the Library News blog for comments.

Once all the checking was out of the way, I just had time to finish writing a position paper on my QR codes project before my fortnightly meeting with my boss. During the meeting we went through the projects I have on the go, and then discussed a meeting planned for next week, with members of staff from all the different Library departments, where we will decide on a policy for documenting my projects, requesting new projects, and prioritising projects (now that my post has been made permanent).

Following the meeting I had a request from one of the Academic Liaison Librarians for some website statistics that she needed for an academic Board of Studies meeting – I got these from Google Analytics and sent them to her.

In the afternoon I trained one of my colleagues on using WordPress so he could add posts to the Library news blog. I had a phone call from someone on the Reception Desk asking for help with their computer – I popped down, determined the problem was the monitor display being out of alignment, and fixed it.

Back at my desk, I emailed the office to ask them to put a notice about the Library’s new Facebook page in this week’s staff Bulletin, updated my to do list, and then got on with some website changes – adding a new Academic Liaison Librarian to the website, and adding some Information Skills sessions to the booking form.

Then it was time to go home.

Tuesday

Today I have an Information Desk session from 9-11, so there’s not much time to do more than my daily display screen, Facebook and blog checks before I head down to the Information Desk. I usually do two Information Desk shifts a week. Today’s shift was very quiet – had three people with queries, and that was it. I don’t generally mind when it is quiet, as I can get on with other work, though sometimes it feels like a waste of time my being there.

After my shift, I had a visit from one of my colleagues to arrange for the SCONUL trainee to spend some time with me next week, which I agreed to. I have a project which I want her to help me with, and next week is perfect timing for me. I then spent some time tidying my desk, which had got into a bit of a mess, and I carted quite a bit of paper off to the recycling bin.

I attempted to make some web changes, but Rhythmyx, our Content Management System, is down, so I give up, and instead work on the You Say, We Say poster for the Publicity & Marketing Group I am a part of – basically telling students what we did about their feedback forms.

Just after lunch I showed one of my colleagues, who was just back from maternity leave, the changes to the website which was migrated while she was off, and had a general chat and a catch up with her.

Then I spent a bit of time thinking about a project to put staff training forms on the web, then read through the strategic paper for Virtual Support projects which my boss had put together, ready for a meeting next week.

Wednesday

Rhythmyx was down again this morning, so I still couldn’t make any changes to the web. I did my usual morning Facebook and blog comment checks, and finished reading through the strategic paper from the day before, sending my comments to my boss.

In lieu of editing the website, I made do with updating the instructions for how to edit the website, and put them up on the staff website. I then attempted to arrange a desk session swap, as one of the sessions I was down for the following week clashed with my big Virtual Support projects strategy meeting.

After lunch I looked up the possibility of getting some funding for a project on using QR codes in the Library – one of the other University departments, CEAD (Centre for Educational and Academic Development) gives Teaching with New Technologies awards of £500, which would be very handy for buying equipment (I really can’t afford my own smartphone) and marketing materials.

Finally Rhythmyx was back up, so I made a few web changes, and uploaded an updated version of the Library Launchpad tutorial (an introduction to the Library).

Thursday

Usual morning check for comments on Facebook and the blog. Facebook followers are slowly increasing, but no comments as of yet.

I spent much of the morning creating a flowchart of the process for a Virtual Support project using LovelyCharts, which was quite fun. Then I had another shift on the desk, which was quite quiet.

In the afternoon I gave some thought to what work I would ask the SCONUL trainee to do while she is with me next week – planning to cover briefly what it is that I do in my role, and get her to do some website changes, and mostly populating the new Library staff intranet.

Friday

Once again, started the day with checking the blog and Facebook for comments and users. Now have over 30 users on Facebook, which means I can start collecting statistics – feel rather over-pleased about this.

I printed a few copies of the updated Rhythmyx instructions ready for a training session I will be running next week, with two new members of staff, and someone else who has managed to miss all my previous sessions.

Spent an hour or so before lunch weeding emails, the concept of Inbox Zero is one I will never grasp – think I have about a thousand emails in my inbox.

After lunch I spent some more time sorting and tidying my desk, arranging folders, and trying to appear all neat and tidy (even though I’m generally not). I also posted my Interesting Things blog post, which I’d been adding items to throughout the week.

Fridays are great, as I get to leave half an hour early, so the week always ends well.